What are the connotations of a "foot-washing baptist"?

Question

In the book, *To Kill a Mockingbird*, the foot-washing baptists seem to be painted by Miss Maudie to be evil and to have a strict adherence to the "cleanliness of the soul." When Scout asks Miss Maudie if she is a "foot-washing baptist," Miss Maudie replies with "my shell's not that hard." To me, that means that being a foot-washing baptist has negative connotations, as Miss Maudie does not want to associate herself with such a group. Am I right in inferring that a "foot-washing baptist" is dissimilar from a baptist that practices foot-washing?What are the connotations of "foot-washing baptists" outside the context of the book?

Answer 1

You have taken this out of context is part of the problem. What comes before that comment about being a foot-washing Baptist (referring to Boo's father) offers the clue. To Scout, the term means strict adherence to the Baptist religion without allowance for bending of those beliefs in any situation, or in other words that all pleasure is sinful. That's why Miss Maudie replies the way she does--to indicate that she is not that strict.